DURANGO, Colo. (AP) – The latest in the Colorado mine spill (all times local):
9:58 a.m.
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency will meet with state, local and tribal officials and community members when she visits Colorado on Wednesday to see the impact of a 3 million-gallon mine waste spill.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy also plans to visit Farmington, New Mexico, on Thursday.
She says the agency takes full responsibility after an EPA-led crew accidentally released the wastewater laced with heavy metals, including lead and arsenic.
The pollution turned part of the Animas River in Colorado mustardy yellow last week. It washed down the river and is believed to have passed into Utah, but it’s difficult to detect because it’s been diluted.
The EPA has said the flows are moving too fast for the contaminants to pose an immediate health threat and that the heavy metals will likely be diluted over time so they don’t pose a longer-term threat.
However, local and tribal officials are concerned about river sediment being contaminated and the potential long-term effects.
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7:35 a.m.
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency plans to visit Colorado and New Mexico sometime Wednesday to see the impact of a 3 million gallon mine waste spill triggered during an agency-led cleanup.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy says the spill that turned part of the Animas River in Colorado a shade of mustardy yellow last week “pains me to no end” and her department takes full responsibility.
The pollution washed down the river and is believed to have passed into Utah but it’s difficult to detect because it has been diluted and no longer has the bright color.
The EPA has said the current flows are too fast for the contaminants to pose an immediate health threat, and that the heavy metals will likely be diluted over time so they don’t pose a longer-term threat, either.